Al Masry SC (0) 2
(Mugisha pen. 59’, Hashem 87’)

Kaizer Chiefs (0) 1
(Solomons 66’)

TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup, Group D
Suez stadium, Suez, Egypt

Kaizer Chiefs came within a few minutes of earning a hard-fought point, only to succumb to a late Al Masry winner to go down 2-1 in their opening Group D fixture of the 2025/26 TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup at the Suez stadium on Sunday.

A rare Dillan Solomons goal, and a fine one at that, in the 66^th minute, looked to have secured a draw away from home for Amakhosi after Bonheur Mugisha had put the hosts ahead from the penalty spot six minutes earlier. However, Mohamed Hashem was on hand to poke the ball home in a goalmouth scramble following a corner to win the match in the 87^th minute.

Amakhosi made a cautious start to what turned out to be a somewhat uneventful first half as they acclimatised to their unfamiliar opponents and surroundings, keeping the ball well when in possession and closing down quickly when needing to win it back. As the half wore on, Al Masry gained in confidence and began to push forward, yet the Chiefs defence stood firm and snuffed out any potential threats long before they became a concern for goalkeeper, Brandon Petersen.

Going forward, Amakhosi’s best passages came through attacks from the flanks, with Mduduzi Shabalala and Pule Mmodi sending in crosses towards Etiosa Ighodaro and Ashley Du Preez in the centre and had the loose ball fallen more kindly, Chiefs might have made one of those half-chances count.

As neither side could establish a rhythm to their play, there was little constructive play, with both teams guilty of wayward passing and niggly fouling so it was no surprise when the first half ended goalless after a couple of minutes of added time.

The Green Eagles, as Al Masry are known, noticeably lifted their tempo at the start of the second period and Petersen was called into action to make a fine diving save to keep out a header from Temine barley a minute after the restart. Two minutes later, the Chiefs skipper dived low to his right to save from Algerian forward, Abderrahim Deghmoum.

The home side won a penalty in the 57^th minute when Petersen brought Hammad Elsayed down inside the box after he turned Sibongiseni Mthethwa and beat the keeper to the ball. The ‘keeper dived the right way but Mugisha’s shot beat him for power to put Al Masry 1-0 into the lead.

Then, with 65 minutes gone, Chiefs broke from defence, with substitute, Mfundo Vilakazi finding Solomons on the right flank, who cut inside and, while running across the edge of the penalty area, produced a clever reverse shot that completely wrongfooted the entire Al Masry defence and nestled into the corner of the net.

The goal spurred the hosts into action, but that opened up some space for Chiefs to exploit, and Vilakazi went close twice and another sub, Asanele Velebayi saw a shot saved as Chiefs sought a winner.

It was not to be, though, as they were caught out with three minutes of regulation time remaining when they failed to clear a corner and Hashem reacted quickest to rod the ball home and win the match.

Despite the result, Amakhosi will take some positives from the experience of playing away from home in this competition and will be looking forward towards the visit of Zamalek in the coming week for the next episode of their African odyssey.

Line-ups

Kaizer Chiefs:  Petersen © (1), Cross (27), Miguel (14), Kwinika (4), Solomons (18), Cele (21) (Matlou (22) 80’), Mthethwa (5), Shabalala (7) (Maboe (6) 80’), Mmodi (13) (Vilakazi (28) 63’), Du Preez (9) (Velebayi (17) 63’), Ighodaro (40) (Da Silva (32) 70’)

Subs not used: Bvuma (16); Monyane (2), Mako (29), Msimango (25)

Coaches: Khalil Ben Youssef and Cedric Kaze

Al Masry: Andelbaky (16); Zeid (5), Eleraky (7), Ibrahim © (8) (Youssef (10) 77’) Ismail (13), Elsayed (14) (Afifi (12) 86’), Kingsley (20) (Wahidy (15) 77’), Bonheur (21), Temine (25) (Elshamy (11) 86’), Hashem (29), Deghmoum (30) (Moursi (3) 90’)

Subs not used: Mohamed (1), Fella (35), Abdelwahab (36); Amer (40)

Coach: Nabil Kouki